Boris Johnson is trailing Ken Livingstone in this year’s contest to be London mayor, a shock poll revealed today.

The Tory mayor has thrown away an eight point lead since last summer, the YouGov survey revealed. Boris is now on 49%, but only narrowly behind Labour candidate Ken on 51% just months before the May 3 election.

Crucially, the bumbling Old Etonian is seen about out of touch with voters. The numbers saying that Boris understands their lives have tumbled from 20% to 13%. At the same time the proportion saying Ken is “in touch with the concerns of ordinary people” has risen from 37% to 40%.

Labour voters are flocking back to support Ken, who served as mayor for eight years before being beaten by his rival in 2008, YouGov found.

The former Tory MP has benefited from so-called “Boris Labour” voters in the past who back Ed Miliband’s party nationally but him in London.

Labour had a comfortable 51%-32% lead over Tories in the capital last summer but Ken was trailing by 41% to 48% among the same voters.

The latest poll showed support for Labour in London down slightly to 49% and Conservatives up on 36% but him overtaking Boris. That suggests that around 100,000 voters switching have switched to Ken, said YouGov.

Only around 12% of Labour supporters now said they would vote for Boris, compared to 23% last June.

:: YouGov questioned 1,349 adults in London online between January 10 and 16.